Sand
by Sievert Dinar
Summary: A Senshi hunts a war criminal, one of the abominations of Chaos, hiding within a small township on a remote, dry planet.
1. Sand part 1

Title: Sand (Part 1)  
Series: Sailormoon  
Author: Sievert Dinar  
Rating: R (For scenes of violence)  
  
  
  
  
SAND (Part 1) by Sievert Dinar  
  
Disclaimer: This is a Standard Sailormoon Disclaimer  
  
Disclaimer: This is another disclaimer.  
  
Disclaimer: The previous two disclaimers were not the same as this  
disclaimer.  
  
  
  
  
The chill wind, signifying the approaching night, blew   
through the gates of the township, barely more than an outpost,  
as the gatesman watched the sun set over the eastern dunes. It  
had been hours since the final carriage from the landing port was  
supposed to arrive, and the gatesman was starting to fret. As soon  
as the sun was down, the gates HAD to be closed, otherwise that   
wind would blow into the township, defeating the attempts of the  
generator to keep things tolerable within the surrounding high,   
thick concrete walls.  
  
Scorched during the day and frozen during the night. That   
was all the little planet of Garribos had to offer the township.  
There were no oceans to regulate the weather of the planet.   
Indeed, it was up to the generators, such as the township's, to   
make the planet capable of sustaining life... If it hadn't been  
for the crystalline ore buried deep within the sand, nobody would  
have bothered trying to sustain any kind of colonial settlement.  
The township was only just fortunate enough to produce sufficient  
quantities to make it financially viable. Time and again, the  
township council would make decrees that funding for a full-scale  
mining venture was just around the corner, but it never seemed to  
come to pass. And so the township languished in its state, with  
changes in population coming only in a change of mining personnel  
or in the death of the more 'permanent' residents.  
  
The gatesman was one of those residents, having arrived in  
the township some twenty years previous, never working up the cash  
to leave. If he seemed depressed at his situation, he never showed  
it. Like most of those who made the township their long-term home,  
he was a loner, disinterested in the families and social gatherings  
of the mine workers. There was no point in making friends with   
them if they were likely to disappear within a few months on one of  
the carriages, even if he was the last person in town to see them.  
It was his job to make sure arrivals and departures were done as  
quickly and efficiently as possible, in that he liked to pride   
himself. Whether or not he knew the people on those carriages was  
completely immaterial.  
  
But what really annoyed him were late carriages, especially  
arrivals... Late departures were something he could do about,   
often berating those in charge for their tardiness, sometimes even  
the passengers for their slack attitude to schedules... But   
arrivals were completely out of his control, because they were out  
there where he had no say. Worse still, late arrivals could mean   
trouble... Breakdowns or Sand Pirates... or worse. And that often  
meant having to break with his usual job and forming search parties  
for the errant transports.  
  
But not at night. Nobody ever left the township at night.   
Unless it was one of the carriages, which were designed to deal   
with the overbearing cold, and the township only had one such   
vehicle for its own uses, owned by the town council. The vehicles  
were expensive to run, which made the town council loathe to use   
it. That was probably why he hated late arrivals, more than   
anything: it meant having to inform council members of the   
situation, followed by the sheriff's office... And it could all  
be a false alarm, for which he would receive criticism after the  
search party had been organised, ready to go...  
  
He shivered as he checked his trenchcoat, making sure it was  
closed as tightly around him as possible, as he stood at the edge   
of the open gateway, staring along the visible horizon for any   
sight of the carriage. Occasionally he would glance back at the   
gateman's cottage, sitting flush with the wall beside the gateway,  
wishing he was in there now, sitting down in front of the heater,  
enjoying a warm meal and a drink. It was just as he was about to  
give in to those thoughts and close the gate when he noticed the   
small figure, striding over one of the nearby dunes. Rubbing his  
eyes, in case he was imagining things, he watched the figure as it  
approached the gate of the township, striding purposefully. It had  
been a very long time, in the gateman's memory, that the township   
had had a visitor arriving by foot.  
  
The figure was indeed small, hidden underneath a large black  
trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat. It also wore sun-goggles and a   
mask against the blowing sand, and carried a large backpack and   
polearm which, as they crossed the last few yards between the dunes  
and the gateway, the gatesman could see was tipped with a rather  
vicious-looking double-blade. He recognised the weapon immediately  
as that of a Senshi, and his blood ran cold. It had been many   
decades since a Senshi had deigned to visit the township, and their  
presence only signified trouble.  
  
He stepped back into the arrival compound of the township and  
hit a small button at the base of the gate controls: a silent alarm  
for the council and the sherriff... He had no choice but to rouse   
them now. He stood by the controls, waiting for their arrival,   
partly stepping from one foot to the next in an effort to keep   
himself warm, partly from nerves. He almost leapt a foot or two   
when he felt the finger tapping him on the shoulder. He turned to  
face the Senshi, whose approach had been close to silent.  
  
She took off her hat and goggles, then lowered her mask. She  
was wide-eyed and almost innocent looking, with a round, elfin-like  
face and straight, medium-length black hair. She smiled at the   
gatesman, trying to calm him. All he could see was the tiara that   
encircled her forehead. "Excuse me..." She said, her voice  
croaky from the dry air. "Could you direct me to the nearest   
hotel. My throat is rather dry and I require a drink and a room."  
  
The gatesman swallowed and pointed into the township.   
"It's... er... Just along the main street, there... Opposite the  
Town Council..." He watched as she turned to follow his   
directions. "Umm... If you would like to wait, the Council and   
the Sheriff will be here to meet you, personally."  
  
"Immaterial." The Senshi donned her hat once more. "I have  
no interest in seeing them until I feel I need to." She glanced  
aside at him. "And the transport you are waiting for... It will  
arrive in approximately twenty minutes."  
  
The gatesman was taken aback. "Is that your power, my...   
uh... My Lady? To predict?" The Senshi blinked, then smiled,  
shaking her head.  
  
"No. I saw its lights approaching as I crested the dunes   
back there. See you later. Try and keep warm. This night is  
going to be exceptionally cold." And with that she walked away  
into the growing twilight of the township.  
  
  
  
  
The main hotel was not much to look at. A nondescript grey  
building with a front bar, saloon bar and small function hall. It  
certainly wasn't getting into the tourist mood, unsurprisingly,  
since there were never any tourists. But it did have a large   
number of rooms, to supply its transient population.  
  
Having made her way there, the Senshi had booked a room, not  
specifying to the manager how long she would be staying, a worrying  
enough sign as it was, and one that caused the manager and his wife  
some consternation. In all the time they had been running the   
hotel, they'd never had a Senshi stay before.  
  
"If there is anything you need..." The manager wrung his   
hands nervously as the Senshi surveyed the (larger than usual) room  
she had been given. Combined main room and bedroom, with shower   
and toilet off to one side. Not quite as spartan as the manager  
thought she was used to: she had spent many a night in places even  
a vagrant would avoid, out of necessity... She had served the   
Kingdom well in all of its conflicts, and she had the scars to   
prove it.  
  
"I'll let you know." She tossed her hat onto the bed and   
reached into her trenchcoat, pulling out a large wallet, from which  
she produced an ingot: small, rectangular in shape and thick around  
the edges, the manager recognised it immediately. The currency of  
Earth, the homeworld... Just one of the royal ingots was worth his  
income for the entire local year, which was roughly twice that of   
the Earth.  
  
She held it out to him and he took it tenderly, as if it   
would explode at the merest touch. "Th... thankyou." He bowed,  
almost comically, as he backed his way out of the open doorway.  
"Thankyou, my lady." And with that he closed the door and beat a  
hasty exit.  
  
The Senshi sighed and shrugged off the coat, revealing the  
Senshi fuku she wore underneath: the one designed for the   
battlefield, far more practical when it came to field work such as  
this.  
  
Rather than the traditional skirt and bow piece, it was more   
like a one-piece bodysuit, with a black and purple motif, and the   
insignia of her rank as a Senshi on the shoulders. She wore thick,  
knee-high boots and almost-as-thick elbow-length gloves, both   
thickly padded and sturdy.  
  
And suffocating. Almost as soon as the coat was gone, she  
whipped the gloves and boots from her extremities and left them   
where they lay, flexing her fingers and toes. It had been the   
first time in days she had been able to do so.  
  
She padded over to the window, which faced the street, and   
pulled the curtains aside, staring down at the small group of men  
which had gathered at the front of the hotel. Mostly minor members  
of the town council and the sheriff's deputies. She sighed: this  
meant that the Mayor and the Sheriff, themselves, were already on  
their way up to see her. Why did people always overreact to her  
presence?  
  
Turning away from the window, she made for the bathroom.  
  
  
  
  
The Mayor tapped softly on the door and paused to listen.   
"I think she's in the shower." He turned to the hotel manager.   
"You didn't say she would be in the shower."  
  
"All things considered, I think that is the least of our   
problems, Mayor." The Sheriff, an imposing-looking man in his  
forties, with prematurely white hair tied back in a tail and an  
equally white goatee beard, placed a hand on the manager's   
shoulder. "We're the ones who came charging up here. And she IS  
a human being. After walking all that way, of course she'd want to  
wash the sand off."  
  
"Human being?" The Mayor, a portly, balding man in his late  
fifties, gave the Sherriff a stern look, which failed to impress   
the Sheriff much: he was used to the Mayor's pomposity. "A Senshi  
is not a 'Human Being'. A Senshi is something entirely more   
dangerous and unpredictable. Isn't that right, Prentice?" The   
Mayor turned to his secretary, a thin, reedy young man with a   
permanently nervous expression.  
  
"Yes, sir..." Prentice swallowed hard, wiping sweat from his  
forehead. "They bring no end of trouble, wherever they go, sir."  
  
"You make it sound as if they were monsters." The Sheriff  
shook his head. "They aren't. And don't forget, they RULE this  
part of the universe. I'd hate to think what she would do if she  
heard what you were saying now." He gestured towards the door.   
"In fact, she probably CAN, knowing Senshi. They're not stupid."  
  
The Mayor huffed with contempt. "They may rule, but they're  
still a menace. Do you know how many innocent lives were lost,   
thanks to them, in the last offensive of the Sailor Wars?" The  
Sheriff did not reply, so the Mayor warmed to his theme. "They   
are criminals, Lleyton. War criminals, of the very worst kind.   
Butchers of innocent women and children."  
  
"I thought they were supposed to be on the side of the   
angels." The hotel manager wrung his hands together, not liking   
one little bit the situation that was developing. Prentice tugged  
on the sleeve of the Mayor's coat, gesturing to the fretting   
manager, and the Mayor changed his tack, clearing his throat   
nervously and lowering his voice.  
  
"Yes, well... You all know my opinion of the Senshi, and   
why. Perhaps we can discuss this at another time, hmmm?" The   
Mayor smiled at the Sherriff, who returned with a pained gaze.  
  
"I think she has finished her shower." The Sheriff stepped  
in front of the Mayor and rapped hard against the door, making all  
those around him have an apoplexy.  
  
"Yes?" Came the Senshi's tired voice, almost snapping with  
annoyance. The Sheriff smiled a lopsided grin as the Mayor lifted  
his hands as if to throttle him, only just holding himself back.  
  
"It's the Sheriff and the Town Mayor. We're here to talk to  
you about your little... umm... visit." It sounded pretty lame to   
the Sheriff, but what the hell. He was not one for pleasantries,   
not even to Senshi. After all, his daughter...  
  
He sighed as she grunted a response. "I think she agrees to  
see us." He smiled at the Mayor and checked the door handle.   
Finding it unlocked, he opened the door and stepped in, not really  
caring what state of nakedness the Senshi was in as he did so.   
Sometimes it was better to try and catch them on the hop, so to   
speak. It put them on the backfoot and made things simpler for   
him, at least in his experience.  
  
She was wearing little more than her underwear and a uniform  
jacket, knocking back a tin of brew from the small barfridge as he  
stopped in the middle of the room. She didn't even look flustered  
by his entrance, which took the wind out of his sails. Well,   
nothing ventured, nothing gained, he thought, before being brushed  
aside by the blushing Mayor, who was wringing his hands with   
embarassment. "I'm so sorry." The Mayor croaked. "I'm so sorry  
for my Sheriff's lack of manners. We didn't mean to barge in on  
you like this..."  
  
The Senshi looked at them, one after the other, without   
saying anything. When she clamped eyes on the manager, he scuttled  
back from the room, closing the door behind him. Then she placed   
the tin on a counter and stepped over to where she had left the  
polearm, leaning against the end of the bed, as the Mayor   
continued. "I'm sorry for anything rude I might have said about  
you out there. I don't really know what I'm talking about,   
sometimes. But you have to look at things from my perspective..."  
  
The Sheriff frowned as he watched the Senshi. There was  
something going on here, of that he was sure. Her movements, since  
she placed down her drink, had been slow and deliberate, and she   
was reaching for her... Her WEAPON!  
  
The Sheriff turned as he heard a gasp from Prentice's   
throat. The thin, nervous young man had not said anything since   
they were outside the room, and he had ignored him. It had not   
been hard to do, as the Mayor's Secretary was not exactly the most  
forceful presence, even if he did make it his business to stick to  
the Mayor wherever the older man deigned to go. The Sherriff stood  
back as Prentice's face contorted into a mask of hate. Even   
more... into an expression no human being with normal facial   
muscles should have been able to achieve. The Secretary hunched  
his back, his teeth becoming sharp and canine-like, and his hands  
crooking into claws. He looked like an animal who was about to   
jump his prey.  
  
But the Senshi was quicker. Grabbing the polearm, she spun   
and bundled the Mayor aside as she brought the vicious-looking   
double blade to bear on the Secretary's body, slicing neatly   
through from his left shoulder to his right abdomen. There was a  
flash of light and the Secretary's body exploded in an abomination  
of tentacles, screaming inhumanly as the light turned into fire.   
And then he was gone, little more than whisps of smoke, floating  
along the ceiling.  
  
The Sheriff and the Mayor stared at the scene in horrified  
silence, before the Mayor spluttered into outraged life.   
"Prentice... You killed Prentice! How DARE you, you MONSTER!"  
  
"Prentice was already dead." The Senshi stood up, rapping   
the base end of the polearm against the floor. "What you saw was  
little more than a facsimile. A copy. And a monstrous one at   
that." She turned to the Mayor. "And there might be a great many  
more of them in your town."  
  
"What do you mean?" The Sheriff stepped up beside her.   
"What really WAS that thing, if not Prentice?"  
  
The Senshi looked from the Sheriff to the Mayor, both   
expression on her face and in her voice flat and unemotional. "It  
was a creature of Chaos, of Evil, created by a criminal from the  
last Sailor War." She then smiled, holding out her free hand in an  
expansive gesture. "This criminal is in your town, and I am here   
to bring him to justice, by any means necessary."  
  
  
  
  
To be continued. Or "bugger, is that all?" =^.^=  
  
Sievert Dinar  
sievertd@hotmail.com 


	2. Sand part 2

Title: Sand (Part 2)  
Series: Sailormoon  
Author: Sievert Dinar  
Rating: R (For scenes of violence and sexually suggestive content)  
  
  
  
  
SAND (Part 2) by Sievert Dinar  
  
Disclaimer: This is a Standard Sailormoon Disclaimer  
  
Disclaimer: This is another disclaimer.  
  
Disclaimer: The previous two disclaimers were not the same as this  
disclaimer.  
  
  
  
  
As she approached the hotel, Lafayette noticed the small   
crowd of, what amounted to in this town, important people...   
Members of the Town Council, the Magistrate, the Sheriff's   
deputies. Teffe... It was almost too much for one of the town's  
few prostitutes to take in. She hadn't seen this many important  
people together since the celebration after the township had won a  
contract to supply extra quantities of the crystalline ore.  
  
But why did Teffe have to be here?  
  
Because he was one of the Sheriff's deputies, that's why.  
  
With her long blond hair, tied up in a ribbon, and the   
flowing, brightly coloured, low-cut dress and shawl she wore, even   
within the semi-darkness of the main street it wasn't long before   
she was noticed by the deputy. "Lafayette!" He called out to her   
as he started across the street to where she was standing, at the   
entrance to the small lane she had used as a shortcut. She sighed  
inwardly... The deputy had had a thing for her ever since they   
were both still in school, and had been one of her regular clients  
ever since he knew what one was supposed to do with that bit   
between his legs. More than a client, he LOVED her, and there were   
times when that became simply overbearing. Like now.  
  
He placed his hands on her shoulders when he'd finally   
arrived, looking at her with concern. "You know what I said about  
making your way back unattended."  
  
"Give it a rest, Teffe." She sighed. "I can look after   
myself, you know."  
  
Teffe smiled. "i know, I've seen it. But you really   
shouldn't take the risks you do. Even in this small town, there   
are strange people..."  
  
"In this small town there is inbreeding. Of course there are  
strange people." She shrugged as he facefaulted. "Yeah yeah yeah,  
I know the drill. Always make sure you travel in pairs, with one   
of the other girls. Well, I did, to get there, anyway, with   
Kinnie. But she and her client weren't finished, yet, and I didn't  
want to sit there, waiting, listening to them finish up. You know  
what it is like..."  
  
"Okay, okay..." Teffe let her shoulders go. "It's just   
that, there could be bad things going on in this town. We have an  
important visitor..."  
  
"Is that why all the suits have gathered?"  
  
"You could say that. It's a Senshi."  
  
Lafayette swallowed. "A what?"  
  
"You know, one of the soldiers of the Monarchy. They don't   
go anywhere without a reason, especially a town like this one." He  
looked at her, meaningfully. "If she should find out..."  
  
"Then I'll just have to avoid her, won't I?" Lafayette   
huffed. "I'm more than happy, where I am. I don't want things to  
change, do you understand, Teffe? I don't want things to change."  
  
Teffe took a long breath, looking down at the ground. "Well,  
you see..." He looked back up, eventually. "...She's staying in   
the room next to yours. I think she already knows something."  
  
Lafayette turned white. "No..." She shook her head. "Then  
I'm not going back. Not to my place." She thought for a few   
moments. "What about your place? I can bunk there for the time   
being, surely?"  
  
"You know the Sheriff has forbidden me to take you in. In a   
town this size, word quickly gets around... A Sheriff's deputy and  
a hooker, under the same roof. I'll end up in front of the Mayor's  
commission review, and you'll find yourself whistling away your   
time in a cell." He shook his head. "No, I can't do that..."   
  
"Yeah, right." Lafayette huffed, her cheeks puffed out like   
a sulking child. "You're only thinking about yourself and your  
reputation. Again."  
  
Teffe thought quickly to avoid an argument. "Do you have   
Kinnie's room key?"  
  
"We both have keys to each others' rooms, of course..." She  
paused, putting a hand over her mouth in realisation. "You mean I  
should stay with her."  
  
"Her room is in the building behind the hotel. It might not  
be that far from where the Senshi is staying, but it keeps you   
further apart than if I tried to smuggle you back to your room."   
He paused. "Do you agree?"  
  
Lafayette looked away, scratching her head. "Kinnie isn't   
going to like it. Her room ain't that big to begin with, and we  
only have each others' keys as a safety measure." She sighed,   
shaking her head. "There really isn't anything else I can do, is  
there?" She then smiled and looped an arm around one of his.   
"Well then, my knight in shining armour, guide me to a place of  
safety."  
  
Teffe blushed and tried to look nonchalant as he and   
Lafayette made their way past the group in front of the hotel, the  
prostitute lying her head against his arm at the most inopportune  
time. As much as he didn't mind it, he had visions of what his   
life would be like without a job...  
  
  
  
  
"For the last ten years it has been my duty to hunt down and  
destroy criminals from the Sailor Wars. Many of these...   
creatures, for want of a better term, are abominations, spawned   
from the evil that is Chaos itself. They sometimes take a benign  
appearance, but within they are totally corrupt, and inflict the  
most horrendous atrocities upon the innocent. Things you couldn't  
even begin to imagine..." The Senshi paused, watching the Mayor  
stare at the patch of floor where his secretary had once stood.   
The Sheriff had found him a chair from somewhere in the room, and   
guided him into it. For those who weren't used to it, the horrors  
of the warriors of Chaos were enough to snap the mind. "Have   
either of you heard of the Mirrabeen camps?"  
  
The Sheriff, having left the Mayor in his seat, was now   
leaning against the edge of the bench of drawers on the far side of  
the room, his arms crossed, deep in thought. He looked up at the  
Senshi, who had re-donned her fuku bodysuit and was clipping the  
sleeve fasts into place. "Mirrabeen, the capital of Navos, which  
had been on the frontline of the war. The enemy had set up   
concentration camps there, purely for the torture of children. The  
beasts would rape their minds on a daily basis."  
  
The Senshi raised an eyebrow. "So, even in this   
insignificant corner of the universe, the more lurid tales of the  
enemy's excesses are known?"  
  
"Not really. I was part of the repatriation relief corps at  
the time. When Navos was reclaimed, I was posted in Deraween, not  
far from Mirrabeen. The situation was not much different." He   
sighed. "Which is why I'm now the sheriff in this... insignificant  
corner of the universe."  
  
"You saw too much and you wanted to get away." The Senshi   
almost sounded goading, as if contemptuous of the Sheriff's   
actions. He looked at her with annoyance.  
  
"Getting away from the arrogance of the system, yes. Getting  
away from the horrors that came with it, yes. Don't try to psych   
me out, it simply isn't going to work."  
  
"I'm sure." The Senshi sneered, then frowned and turned to   
the window, as if registering something. She looked back at the   
Sheriff and the Mayor, then strode over to the window and peered   
through the curtains.  
  
There didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary. At  
least, not now. She was sure she had felt something...  
  
  
  
  
Having left Lafayette at the door of Kinnie's room, her not  
allowing him to enter as it would, most likely, have upset Kinnie,  
Teffe found himself crossing the small courtyard between the front  
and rear buildings of the hotel, deep in thought.  
  
Thoughts of Lafayette, and what it would mean if the Senshi  
were to catch her... Which was why he almost walked headlong into   
Kinnie, who had been standing quietly in the near darkness, close  
to the entrance to the front building.  
  
For a second, before registering that it was his girl's   
black-haired friend in the trade, he thought it might have been the  
Senshi, actually sniffing them out, and almost jumped back a foot  
in surprise before calming, hand on his chest. "Aww shit, you   
scared me there, girl!"  
  
"Scared?" Kinnie looked at him strangely, her voice flat.   
"Why would you be scared?"  
  
"Standing in the dark like that. It could have been anyone."  
  
Kinnie ignored him. "Lafayette. Where is she?"  
  
"Hmm?" He frowned. "She's in your room. Couldn't use hers,  
what with everything going..." Before he was able to finish,   
Kinnie brushed past him, quickly crossing the courtyard to the rear  
building. "What's with her?" He scratched his head as he watched   
her dark figure disappear inside.  
  
  
  
  
"You know, it is going to be hard to explain to the   
Magistrate, and the other Council members, what has happened to   
Prentice. I mean, what do I tell them? That he was killed because  
he was, in fact, a monster?" The Mayor's whiney voice distracted  
the Senshi. She returned from the window in annoyance.  
  
"I don't really care what you tell them. For all we know,   
many of them could be like Prentice, just monstrous copies, created  
by evil. Telling them anything will probably only give away our   
knowledge of what the criminal is doing."  
  
"And that is?" The Sheriff quizzed. "Just what does he   
intend to do in this town, might I ask? Why even come here?"  
  
"The crystalline ore that you mine on this planet. It is a  
powerful source of life energy. Because Garribos never developed  
life of its own, the life energy that has been stored here is in  
plentiful supply. Imagine this, we are all descended from Earth,   
one way or another, and therefore we contain tiny flickers of the  
life energy that was stored by that planet. Eventually, Earth   
itself became icapable of sustaining our numbers, and we moved,   
from one planet to the next, sharing our demands for life energy   
with other worlds that had barely been used. Garribos is one of  
those worlds."  
  
"So he had life energy in almost unlimited supply. So what?"  
The Sheriff shrugged. "Garribos is such a small world, why would   
he choose this one over others?"  
  
"Because of the amount of energy that is stored here.   
Despite its size, Garribos is like a life-energy dynamo. It   
produces a constant stream because of the structure of the planet.  
Had we not come here and settled, mining the crystalline ore, then  
the planet would have simply blown itself apart. Maybe millions of  
years in the future, but it would have happened. Now we are here,  
not only mining the ore but using the energy ourselves. On this  
planet, people are saturated with it, like fresh fruit ripe for the  
picking. I'm surprised that Senshi have not already developed   
here, considering. Three to four generations of this should have  
seen at least one."  
  
"So he wants the energy. How does he intend to use it?"  
  
"Quite simple. He'll use the energy to revive his failing  
existence, his failing substance, and redevelop himself into a new  
form to house the essence of Chaos. Garribos will become the new  
Nemesis, and all who live here will be corrupted and turned into   
his servants. As I said..."  
  
"Fresh fruit ripe for the picking, yes." The Sheriff turned  
to the Mayor. "We should gather everyone in the town together, in   
the main square. It will be the only way we can keep an eye on   
everyone, and find out who has been corrupted."  
  
"We can do that, but it may take too long. It'll also   
distract us from searching for him. Give him an opportunity to   
break into the mine. Once he gets to the extractors, even I won't  
be able to stop him." The Senshi looked from one to the other,   
grimly. "Perhaps we should start with a manifest of the transport  
arrivals within the last few days."  
  
The Mayor stood, suddenly looking decisive. "Yes, I'll get  
all the information you want. Immediately." He suddenly looked  
lost again, and the Sheriff took him by the shoulder, guiding him   
to the door.  
  
"Don't allow yourself to be distracted, Mayor. And make sure  
you're with people you can trust..." The Sheriff started to   
lecture him. The Mayor's eyes showed her was starting to panic.  
  
"How would I know who to trust, if those who have been   
corrupted cannot be recognised by mere mortals such as myself?"  
  
"All of those standing in front of the hotel are not   
corrupted, so I dare suggest they can be trusted." The Senshi   
smiled mischievously. "As much as you can trust politicians and  
the law, anyway."  
  
Her sarcasm was lost on the Mayor, though, and he nodded   
seriously to her as the Sheriff opened the door and ushered him   
out, closing the door behind him. He then turned to the Senshi.  
"There was no need for that. He might be a mere human, but there  
wasn't any need to treat him as if that meant he were a lower form  
of life."  
  
"He's a politician. Of course he is a lower form of life.   
Unfortunately all forms of government create them, so we're stuck  
with them." She waved a hand in the air, as if casually brushing   
the subject away. The Sheriff wasn't going to let it go so easily.  
  
"If you want the people of this town to help you defeat this  
thing, then you're going to have to take a crash course in   
diplomacy. Regardless of whatever you are, you have no right..."  
  
"Yeah yeah yeah." The Senshi sniffed, reaching for her   
polearm weapon, which was leaning against the wall by the bed. "Do  
you feel a ripple in the ether? I think something bad is about to  
happen again."  
  
"Wh... what?" The Sheriff tensed up. She smiled at him and  
pointed at the door.  
  
"Shall we go and check the building behind this hotel? All  
this talking is starting to get to me, and I feel the need to do  
something really violent."  
  
  
  
  
Having switched on the small heater in the corner of the room  
to warm things up, Lafayette had shed clothes down to her   
undergarments and had seated herself in front of the mirror,   
brushing down her hair, before she would retire to bed (Well, the   
sofa, anyway) when the door to the room opened. Lafayette turned   
and smiled sheepishly as Kinnie stepped in. "Oh, hi." She  
chirped. "Sorry about this."  
  
"Sorry?" Kinnie said flatly, closing the door behind her.  
  
"Didn't you bump into Teffe on the way in. He didn't leave  
all that long ago?"  
  
"Teffe." Kinnie turned to Lafayette, staring at her. "Yes,  
Teffe."  
  
"What's up? You look rather dazed?" Lafayette placed the   
brush on the table before the mirror and stood. "Aren't you   
feeling well."  
  
"No, I feel fine. Perfectly fine." Kinnie stepped across   
the floor, towards her. "You are Lafayette?"  
  
"Pardon?" Lafayette frowned.  
  
"Yes. You are Lafayette. I can feel you."  
  
Kinnie smiled.  
  
  
  
  
"I really don't think this is wise." The Sheriff pulled his  
firearm from its holster and checked to see whether it was loaded   
and in a condition to be fired. It had been a long time since he   
had needed to. He then followed the Senshi down the stairs and   
into the main hallway. "If something is about to happen, you   
should let me and my men deal with it. Who knows what will happen   
if you get out of control."  
  
"It's 'My men and I', and I'm more likely to be effective  
against this beast than you. Remember what I told you about the  
camps in Mirrabeen?"  
  
The Sheriff nodded mutely as she turned to him, the blade of  
her weapon swinging alarmingly close to his face. "Uhh, yeah.   
What about it?"  
  
"The thing we are up against created the demon that made that  
camp. In fact, created all the demons on the front of Navos. And  
those demons have a thing for raping and mutilating the minds of  
innocents, especially if those innocents contain copious quantities  
of life energy. And one of them is in the rear building of this   
hotel, right now, ready to feast."  
  
"What do you..." The Sheriff found momentary distraction   
from his confusion in the presence of one of his deputies,   
approaching from the far end of the main hall. "Teffe!" He called  
out. "Teffe, I need some help. Can you get the..."  
  
Before he could finish his request, Teffe stopped and stared  
at them, then quickly turned and made his way back towards the   
entrance to the function room, from where he'd appeared. The   
Senshi had watched his reaction from aside, a snide half-smile on  
his face.  
  
"Ah, the golden-haired youths who fall in love with the   
beauties who shine most brightly." She almost whispered. The   
Sheriff shook his head.  
  
"Damn you. You've got everyone in this town in jitters."  
  
"Maybe not for the reasons you think." And with that she   
took off after Teffe, so fast that the Sheriff didn't know what was  
happening before she'd disappeared from sight.  
  
"This is crazy." He muttered to himself, and proceeded to   
follow.  
  
  
  
  
"KINNIE!" Lafayette cried out as her friend pinned her to   
the floor with strength far greater than anyone her size and   
stature should have had. "Let go! You're hurting me!"  
  
"Yessssss..." Kinnie hissed, grinning. "Yes, I am hurting  
you. How does it feel? Do you like it?"  
  
"What's gotten into you?" Lafayette struggled as Kinnie   
pinned both her arms above her head with one hand, squeezing her  
flesh tight. Lafayette's eyes filled with tears of pain. "Oww!  
Owwwoowwwww!"  
  
"Hurts so good. Pain is good. Time to die, little bright  
one. Time to rip out your soul." Kinnie opened up her mouth,   
wider than a normal human jaw would allow, and a sharp, spear-like  
frond slithered out from the back of her throat.  
  
Lafayette stared at the frond, not understanding what was  
going on, but instinctively knowing it was not something she would  
like to see in action, especially not on her.  
  
And she closed her eyes.  
  
And screamed.  
  
  
  
  
Teffe reached the courtyard before he felt the collar of his  
jacket grabbed from behind. The sudden, sharp jerk caused his feet   
to slip on the cobblestones and he went flying forward, landing   
heavily on his back.  
  
He stared at the night sky, seeing stars, literally and   
figuratively. "What..." He mumbled, before the Senshi's face   
leaned over his.  
  
"You were going to get reinforcements, I take it?" She   
smiled, kneeling over his prone form. "Or am I thinking too far  
ahead?"  
  
"You!" Teffe sat up quickly. Too quickly, his head hitting  
hers rather hard. The both of them were sitting in the courtyard,  
holding their bruised egos when the Sheriff found them.  
  
"Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?" He leaned  
against the doorway.  
  
"Not particularly funny." The Senshi stood, brushing hair   
from her eyes with a flourish. "Especially not at this moment."   
She turned to the rear building, from which a woman's scream could  
be heard.  
  
"My God." The Sheriff tensed. "Who is that?"  
  
"Lafayette!" Teffe stood and started to stagger forward.  
"Lafayette!" He cried out again, as the scream abruptly ceased.  
  
"This..." The Senshi smiled. "...Is where I come in."  
  
  
There was a steadily rising hum from the building, which was  
then immersed in a brilliant light, ending abruptly when a huge   
blast blew through the roof, expelling a doll-like figure high into  
the air. The Senshi and the Sheriff watched as the figure arced   
across the sky, then plummeted to the ground, landing in the middle  
of the courtyard with a splattering squelch.  
  
The figure then started to lift itself from the ground,   
oozing a foul-smelling black slime, and stood, facing the Senshi  
like a puppet on strings. What little remained of Kinnie's   
features had been warped by the mutation into the creature that  
she now was, or burnt off by the blast.  
  
The Sheriff was lost for words, but the Senshi was not. She  
lifted her polearm, blade forward, in an attack pose. "Well,   
aren't we a mess?" She mocked the creature. It hissed a response,  
making her smile. "That's what you get for taking on someone soooo  
much better than you. I'm also better than you. Want to try me?"  
  
The creature shook its head from side to side, hunched down,  
then leapt high into the air, landing on the roof of the hotel's   
front building. The Senshi turned, watching its progress. "And  
just where do you think you're going?" The creature looked back   
down at her and hissed, then took off.  
  
The Senshi crouched down and leapt up onto the roof,   
disappearing after her quarry. The Sheriff ran towards where Teffe  
was standing, in a daze, trying to see in which direction the   
Senshi was heading, but she was long gone.  
  
There was a noise from the rear building, and the main door  
opened. Lafayette stumbled out, looking stunned and pale.   
"Lafayette!" Teffe ran to her before she fell over, catching her  
and slowly lowering her to the ground. Then he realised she was  
only wearing her undergarments, and, red-faced, put his jacket   
around her shoulders. "Lafayette? Are you okay?" He asked her  
softly. She nodded her head.  
  
"What happened in there?" The Sheriff knelt beside them as  
his other deputies, and a rather distraught-looking hotel manager,  
ran from the front building towards them.  
  
"I almost killed it." Lafayette whispered. "Almost. It was  
going to kill me." She pressed herself into Teffe's chest.  
  
"It's okay, now." Teffe held her. "Everything's alright."  
  
"How did you...?" The Sheriff was about to ask, before she  
wrenched herself from Teffe's arms, alarmed.  
  
"It's not running away."  
  
"Eh?" Teffe and the Sheriff said in unison. She stared at  
them, imploringly.  
  
"It's not running away. It's leading her into a trap." And  
she grabbed both of them by the arm, before all three were   
enveloped in a light. With an almost comical popping sound, they  
vanished, eaving the manager and the other deputies staring at a   
rising haze where they had once been.  
  
  
  
  
To be continued. Or "bugger, is that all?" =^.^=  
  
Sievert Dinar  
sievertd@hotmail.com 


	3. Sand part 3

Title: Sand (Part 3)  
Series: Sailormoon  
Author: Sievert Dinar  
Rating: R (For scenes of violence and sexually suggestive content)  
  
  
  
  
SAND (Part 3) by Sievert Dinar  
  
Disclaimer: This is a Standard Sailormoon Disclaimer  
  
Disclaimer: This is another disclaimer.  
  
Disclaimer: The previous two disclaimers were not the same as this  
disclaimer.  
  
  
  
Across the rooves of the township the Senshi pursued the   
abomination. Automatic lights flickered on as they flitted by,   
sensors registering their transitory presence.  
  
The chill wind of the desert night was free up here. With  
many of the rooves above the line of the town wall, there was   
little to stop the steady stream of heat-tearing air. Yet the  
Senshi was perspiring, her body reacting to the sudden overexertion  
required to chase the creature that had once been Kimmie, fuelled  
by the excesses of her Senshi powers.  
  
And she wouldn't have it any other way. She loved the chase   
of her particular form of prey, polearm blade swinging like a   
propeller in their footsteps, often missing the target   
deliberately. A creature like this was nothing for a true   
Senshi... Easily defeatable, whenever she deigned it time. It had  
even suffered appalling injuries at the hands of a novice, albeit a  
powerful one, such as the whore... Lafayette? Was that her name?  
  
She wasn't even fooled by its attempts to make its flight   
look random. She knew it had switched to some kind of backup plan,  
after its attempt on Lafayette's life had failed. But she WAS   
curious, by what it intended to do, where it was trying to lead   
her.  
  
And all the while, she could feel the eyes of her TRUE enemy,  
watching her.  
  
  
  
  
The Mayor shivered as he downed a scotch, the best malt the  
hotel manager's wife was able to rustle up at such short notice, as  
he sat at the bar, flanked by two of his councillors. The smaller  
and younger of the two held a folder in his hands as the other   
patted the hotel manager, who was sitting on the next bar stool, in  
sympathy for the damage to the residential building at the back of  
his establishment.  
  
"That's three rooms gone, you know that?" The manager shook   
his head. "Three rooms, with smoke damage to the rest of the   
place. And that damn Senshi wasn't even involved. I'd hate to see  
what would have happened had she been."  
  
"The entire hotel probably would've been immolated." The   
Mayor placed his glass on the bar and turned to the councillor with  
the folder. "Well, Tompkins, you had better give me the good bad   
news about the transport arrivals."  
  
"Uuhh... Yes sir." Tompkins opened the folder and started  
leafing through its contents. "Well, sir, as you asked for anyone  
on the manifest who stood out as being, well, unusual, and I have   
to say, nobody really stands out. A couple of families, some mine  
workers, a merchant, a new chief pharmacist and an engineer.   
That's about all, really."  
  
"Did you run a background check on these people, Tompkins,  
there are occasions where we like to make sure that the people who  
arrive here are actually what they say they are, especially if   
they're actually horrible, demonic creatures, intent on killing  
everyone in the town." The Mayor said the words with a silkiness   
that, in Tompkins mind, was quite uncalled for.  
  
"Well, it's not as if we have any plans to deal with this   
kind of situation, sir..."  
  
"Well of course we don't have any bloody plans, Tompkins, why  
the hell would anything like that bother coming to Garribos, to our   
town... Wait a minute..." The Mayor's brow furrowed as a worrying  
thought crossed his mind. "Did you say that one of the people   
who'd arrived in town was an engineer?"  
  
"Er, yes sir." Tompkins flicked through the notes within the  
folder. "One Phillip Mathis, thirtyfive years old. Used to be an  
engineer for the impeller drive in the Shackleyville mine. Mister  
Prentice hired him." He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, sir, I  
didn't mean..."  
  
"That's alright, Tompkins, I think I'm starting to get over   
it already. Having that damn Senshi in town is skewing my thinking  
like you wouldn't believe." The Mayor stood from his stool,   
readjusting his coat jacket and tie. "I take it, then, that this  
Phillip Mathis really is whom he says he is?"  
  
"Well, sir, if it really is as bad as you say it is..."  
  
"Never mind. Where was this Mathis staying?"  
  
Tompkins looked through his papers once more. "Umm, at Mrs  
Kimble's guest house, along with the merchant, Egerton Cuppert."  
  
"Mrs Kimble's guest house?" The Mayor frowned, grimly.   
"That, if what Deputy Calin tells me is correct, is where our dear  
ladies of the night did peddle their services."  
  
"Lafayette and Kinnie?" The hotel manager looked up from his  
miserable fugue. "Well, they did have customers tonight, but they  
would never have been able to go near Mrs Kimble's. She wouldn't   
let girls like that near her daughter."  
  
"No, she wouldn't." The Mayor turned to him. "Makes you   
wonder if Mrs Kimble was entirely herself, doesn't it?"  
  
  
  
  
The Senshi landed silently within the rear courtyard of the   
small house, holding out her polearm as a balance. Slowly, she   
stood, warily taking in the darkness into which the abomination had  
ceased its flight and vanished. She could feel the dark energies,  
latent within this place, stronger than it had been before, but not  
strong enough to have been her true enemy... Other abominations?  
More unfortunates, turned into a sick mirror image of the people   
they had one been? How many were there? Two? Three? Maybe...  
  
Just at that point, the courtyard lit up, and she felt   
herself become heavy, weighted down. Surprised, she fell to her  
knees and stared at the ground, where she could see the burning  
bright image of an inverted pentagram within a circle. There were  
four of them, including the creature that had been Kinnie, just  
enough to generate the dark energies to create the burning circle,  
to trap her and try to drain off some, but certainly not all, of  
her power.  
  
Oh, it would have been enough, certainly to slow down her  
hunt for her true enemy. With what would be taken from her, her  
ability to sense the enemy would have been diminished, as well as  
her ability to fight him. She looked up at the four figures,   
standing around the circle now... Kinnie, her body mutilated and  
mutated almost beyond recognition, along with a man in his mid  
thirties, and middle-aged woman and a young girl, perhaps no older  
than ten. That really hurt... She hated it most when the beasts  
turned children.  
  
The child smiled at her as she stared in her direction: a  
sick, rictus-grin, of someone who was more than dead. She wanted  
to lift up her weapon, sitting at her feet where she had dropped  
it, and rip the child in half, thus ending her suffering, but the  
dark energies held her fast. How stupid she was, not to realise  
what was going on.  
  
And how stupid her enemy was, not to take into account that  
there was, still, more than one Senshi within the town, despite his  
best efforts. With a bright flash and a comical popping sound,  
Lafayette appeared above the girl, and brought her fingernails to  
bear on the monster-child's back, ripping her apart.  
  
The girl screamed and exploded as Lafayette landed on the   
ground, her eyes unseeing, as if hypnotised. She then stood as the   
girl's remains scattered into dust around her, watching as the   
burning circle faded and failed. The three remaining abominations  
hunched down on their fours and hissed angrily at the newcomer,   
forgetting that, with their trap now gone, the Senshi was no longer  
bound and weak, free to do as she pleased.  
  
And she did.  
  
Before they could attack Lafayette, she grabbed her polearm,  
stood and swung the blade in a long arc, cutting all three through  
the midriff. They screamed and exploded in exactly the same manner  
as the girl, and then were no more than dust.  
  
The Senshi shook her body, loosening up her muscles and   
joints, shaking away the dark energies that had tried to injure   
her, and turned to Lafayette as Teffe and the Sherrif appeared on   
either side of her. They staggered a moment and looked around,   
dazed and confused. "What happened?" The Sherrif looked at   
Lafayette, who was still standing blankly between them. "Where are  
we?"  
  
"This is the back yard of Mrs Kimble's guest house." Teffe   
said, before almost jumping a full two feet into the air as the   
courtyard lights flickered on, the sensors no longer suppressed by  
the dark energies. "Woah. That's not something I want to do   
again, any time soon." He then registered the presence of the   
Senshi, and that she was staring at Lafayette. "You..." He put  
himself between the two women. "I know what you're thinking, and  
you can just stop it, you hear?"  
  
"I wish I knew what she was thinking. It might make things a  
lot easier." The Sherrif shook his head to clear the cobwebs.   
"What was that?"  
  
"Sailor Teleport. A basic power of a Senshi." The Senshi   
stepped forward, towards the Sherrif, but not taking her eyes off  
Lafayette.  
  
"Well, next time, would you warn me before you do that. I'm  
just a mere mortal, and it isn't much fun, I can assure you."  
  
"Oh, I didn't do it." The Senshi turned to him, now. "I can  
assure YOU."  
  
"Then who did?" He turned to Lafayette. "And what is wrong  
with her? She must be freezing, dressed like she is."  
  
"She's talking about Lafayette." Teffe brushed the Sherrif  
aside and took Lafayette by the hand. With her seeming compliance,  
he guided her towards the verandah of the guest house. The Sherrif  
looked from them, to the Senshi, and back.  
  
"Lafayette? But she isn't..."  
  
"A Senshi? No. I'm afraid she isn't." The Senshi smiled.   
"Her mother probably was, though. Remember what I said about this  
planet, and its dynamo-like generation of life energy, and that I  
thought it strange that no Senshi had ever appeared amongst the   
more permanent population. Well, there are Senshi here. Probably  
dozens, but they probably don't realise it."  
  
"Oh great. And I thought things were bad with just one."   
The Sherrif threw his hands in the air in frustration. "So   
Lafayette has inherited some of her mother's powers, if her mother  
ever had them. So what? Even if she had them, they were of no  
use to her. She died a mortal woman, in an accident. If she had  
really been a Senshi, you'd think she would have been able to   
prevent that from happening."  
  
"On Garribos? This planet is so latent with energy that they  
probably wouldn't have realised their own energy signature from the  
background noise the planet creates. It is recognition of that   
signature that gives birth to the Senshi. So her mother probably  
didn't know." She nodded at Lafayette. "But she DID recognise it,  
from a very early age, because she is not a Senshi."  
  
"You can't prove that. You can't prove a thing." Teffe spat  
in the Senshi's direction. "Why did you have to come here?"  
  
"Deputy! Are you insane?" The Sherrif stepped over to Teffe   
and Lafayette. "Who do you think you're talking to? What the hell   
is wrong with you?"  
  
"Why don't you tell him, eh? Why don't you spell it out for  
him?" Teffe growled at the Senshi. "That you can't let a Senshi   
novice go, and live a normal life. That, once recognised, you drag  
them away from their home, to 'train' them, back on the stinking  
homeworld..."  
  
"I keep telling you, she is not a Senshi. But yes, that will  
have to happen." The Senshi rested her weapon against her   
shoulder. "It is for the best. Who knows what would happen if she  
were to inadvertantly use her powers, with no understanding in how   
to control them. The situation could be disasterous."  
  
"It doesn't matter. She doesn't want to leave, and that, as  
far as I'm concerned, is good enough for me." Teffe turned away   
from the Senshi and slowly lowered Lafayette into a seated position  
against the wall of the guest house.  
  
"You will change your mind, when you realise just what she   
is to become." The Senshi turned away from them and gestured to   
the house and courtyard. "This place... Is there some   
significance to it all?"  
  
"This is the Guest House of Mrs Marlene Kimble. She's a   
widow, living with her daughter. Her husband used to be a mine   
worker, until he was killed in a drilling accident. Since then,  
she has hired out some of the rooms..."  
  
"For other mine workers, preferably male." The Senshi   
finished his sentence for him.  
  
"Only important ones. Chief or Specialised engineers. She  
liked having a male presence around the house. It made her feel  
safer, at least, for her daughter."  
  
"Silly woman." The Senshi tutted unsympathically. "Men are  
more trouble than they are worth."  
  
"Forgive me for being a man, then." The Sherrif sniffed with  
mock hurt pride.  
  
"Whatever the case, I think we can now rule out Mrs Kimble,   
her daughter and their guest as a going prospect. They had been   
turned, like Prentice and the other girl."  
  
"What?" Teffe turned from his efforts to bring Lafayette  
around. "You can't be serious."  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I had to..." She took a breath as   
Teffe turned away, disgusted. "No point laying all the blame on   
me, young man, it's your girlfriend, there, who put the little girl  
out of her misery."  
  
"God." The Sherrif looked pale. "Marlene and Tricia? Both  
of them." He put a hand over his mouth, as if to be sick.  
  
"And their guest, whoever was staying with them." The Senshi  
underlined, grimly. "I'd say this is where Lafayette and her   
friend did their last order of business, before returning to the   
hotel."  
  
"Lafayette left here first." Teffe looked into the woman's  
blank eyes. "And she wasn't turned."  
  
"But Kinnie was." The Sherrif leaned against a verandah   
post. "Did they have just the one customer?"  
  
"I... I was lead to believe that they had a customer each.  
And the one Lafayette was with didn't try to attack her in any   
way."  
  
"I'd dare suggest he was human, then. She would surely have  
felt something about him, otherwise." The Senshi snorted. "Being  
that close to him."  
  
"Oh, it's soooo easy for you to moralise, I'm sure. You've  
never had to live a hand to mouth existence, like we mere mortals."  
Teffe's anger had returned. "Just because she's on the game   
doesn't make her any less a human being."  
  
"Phew, sore nerve there." The Senshi shook a hand in his   
direction, mockingly, then continued. "However, she left early  
because Kinnie was still busy, and unless Mrs Kimble had tastes we  
didn't know about, I'd say that puts another person in the guest  
house at the same time."  
  
"Your man." The Sherrif nodded. "The one you're after."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"Yes, but why here? Why not in the hotel? Or why not   
register for one of the empty residences upon his arrival? Surely  
it would have been easier if he had gone incognito almost as soon  
as he arrived."  
  
"No, there was something he wanted. Something here." The   
Senshi rubbed her chin, then stepped over to Teffe and Lafayette.  
The deputy stood, trying to turn himself into a shield. The Senshi  
looked at him, painfully. "I was only going to try to bring her   
round. She was here earlier, remember? She might know something,  
about why the freak chose to stay here, and where he might be now."  
  
"He's not here, then? I mean, not anymore?" The Sherrif   
gently pushed Teffe aside and knelt down to Lafayette, softly   
shaking her by the shoulders.  
  
"No, he isn't. Had he been, I would have known. So would  
Lafayette, and she probably wouldn't have felt safe enough to put  
herself into the protective trance she's in right now."  
  
  
There was a noise from beyond the courtyard, the sound of  
approaching vehicles. The Senshi, the Sherrif and Teffe turned and  
listened as a group of the vehicles passed by the side wall of the  
courtyard. The Sherrif strode over to the gate in the wall and   
threw it open as a second group approached on the road beyond.  
  
There were eight trikes and buggies, each carrying two to  
three men apiece, all armed. A couple on the lead trikes were   
deputies of the Sherrif, and he was able to stop the group as he  
waved them down.  
  
The first he approached was Calin, a much older and more   
grizzled figure than Teffe, who had served under the Sherrif for  
a few months shy of a decade. The deputy removed his riding   
goggles as the Sherrif shouted out to him over the sound of the  
motors.  
  
"What's going on? Where are you people going?"  
  
"Up to the mine, sir. The Mayor told us to." Calin pointed  
up the street to the largest building complex in the township,   
still some distance away but easily visible, illuminated by   
hundreds of lights as it was.  
  
"The mine?"  
  
"Yes sir. He said they looked into the background of the   
worker who was staying here." Calin gestured to the guest house.  
"I take it you have things under control here, then?"  
  
"You could say that." The Sherrif frowned as a third group  
of vehicles roared past them. "Is it to protect the mine?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Sending all the men up there. Is it to protect it from our  
mysterious friend?"  
  
"No, as I was about to say, the Mayor looked into the   
background of the worker who was staying here. Apparently the guy  
had already been briefed on all of the access codes and system   
operations of the mine before leaving his original posting."  
  
"Which is why my target chose to stay here." The Senshi   
approached them, stepping slowly from the gate into the lane. The  
men on the vehicles watched her, warily. "He knew who this person  
was. How he knew, we would probably never find out. But by   
turning him, he gained all of that man's knowledge."  
  
"Hmm?" Calin shook his head. "The Mayor thinks this   
criminal may have kidnapped the man and taken him to the mine.   
So he headed up there with the men he had on hand, and told Forrest  
and I to collect as many more as we could."  
  
"He did WHAT?" The Sherrif stared at Calin as if he were   
mad. "What does he think he is going to be able to do, no matter   
how many men he takes, against a war criminal from the Forces of  
Chaos?"  
  
"We don't have much time." The Senshi gestured to Calin and  
the other man sitting on the trike. "You two, off. Help Teffe   
with Lafayette, back in the guest house. Sherrif, you do the   
driving."  
  
Calin and the other man looked at each other, then   
reluctantly dismounted the trike. The Sherrif shook his head.   
"So, you still need help from us mere mortals to get around."  
  
"Not really. I could ride the thing myself if I didn't have  
to carry this weapon about." The Senshi shook her polearm.  
  
"Well, then, why don't you give it to me? I'm sure I could  
carry it for you."  
  
The Senshi smiled and held out the weapon, horizontally, for  
the Sherrif. He looked at it warily, then took it with one hand,   
as she had held it. It was like trying to hold up a transport with  
one hand: he fell to his knees, his hand under an impossible   
weight. "Shit!" He exclaimed as he removed his fingers before   
they were crushed, the polearm clattering to the ground. "What the  
hell is that made from?"  
  
He watched as the Senshi casually picked it up, again one-  
handed. "It's not what it is made from..." She almost chuckled.  
"It is how you intend to use it that determines whether it wishes  
to be held or not. As you have no use for it, it... feels no need  
to be held by you." She gestured to the trike. "Shall we go?"  
  
  
  
  
The group approached the empty lot in front of the mine   
complex. The main gate to the complex was wide open, and through  
it could be seen the other vehicles that had passed earlier.  
  
At the head of the group, the Sherrif coasted his trike to a  
stop just outside the entrance, shutting off his motor. He   
gestured to the others to do the same. Riding pillion, the Senshi  
tapped him on the shoulder and dismounted, her polearm resting on  
her shoulder. She stepped past the trike and through the gates,   
pausing to take note of the guard post.  
  
"Well?" The Sherrif also dismounted. The Senshi turned back  
to him and shook her head. "I'd say we were almost too late." She  
pointed at the guard post. "This poor man would have been the   
first to die."  
  
The Sherrif stepped up to the gate and stared at the corpse,  
still seated at the window. Apart from the fact that his head was  
missing, there wasn't a sign that he'd even noticed the approach of  
his killer. The Sherrif swallowed. "Tommy Kernhoff. He's been   
the gatesman at the mine for almost seven years."  
  
"Not any more." The Senshi turned from him, dismissively.   
The Sherrif clenched his teeth, angrily.  
  
"Can't you be a little more sensitive to peoples' feelings?"  
  
"There is nothing more we can do for the dead, Sherrif.   
However, there are people very much alive in here." She pointed to  
the entrance of the mine's front building. There were other   
figures, lying on the steps.  
  
The Sherrif gestured to his men to dismount and follow as he  
stepped back to his trike, removing a shotgun from its mount, just  
under the seat. Slowly, they filed through the gate as the Senshi  
moved on to the steps, checking the bodies. She waved them over,   
and as they approached, they could see one or two of the figures  
were still alive and breathing.  
  
"Are they...?" The Sherrif was about to ask, but the Senshi  
shook her head.  
  
"No, they're still human." She pointed to one, whose left   
arm had been ripped clean from his shoulder. "But they won't be  
alive for long, unless they receive some attention."  
  
She placed her polearm against the steps and knelt down to  
the first man, holding her hands out to the bloodied stump. There  
was a soft, warm glow, and the bleeding slowed and stopped as the  
wound cauterised. She then stood and snapped her fingers, pointing  
at the man she had helped to heal, then turned to a second figure,  
one of the mine workers, who was bleeding from his side. She   
repeated the effort as two of the Sherrif's men carried the first  
injured man away.  
  
"What is that you are doing?" The Sherrif leaned over her.  
"Some form of Senshi healing power?"  
  
"No. This is something I can do, surplus to my role as a  
Senshi.  
  
"Useful, I have to say."  
  
"Painful. It takes a bit out of me." She stopped and sat  
back on a stair. "He'll live, if you get him to a hospital, fast."  
The Sherrif nodded and gestured to two more men to take the worker  
away.  
  
"So, what now?" He asked as he watched his men carrying the  
worker in the footsteps of the earlier party.  
  
"I'm going to have to take the freak on alone." She sighed.  
"If any of you get in the way, he'll probably do the same."  
  
"And what about the Mayor and his men?"  
  
"They're probably dead. Or worse." She sighed and looked  
down at the steps. "I'm feeling really old today, you know that?  
Nobody over 1200 years of age should be doing anything like this."  
  
"Are you alright?" The Sherrif took her shoulder with   
concern. She looked up at him and smiled.  
  
"I'm as well as could be expected." And with that, she   
grabbed her polearm and stood. "Time to go. Sherrif, you and your   
men follow men from a respective distance. Take as many of the   
injured as you can back to whatever hospital or clinic you have  
here. Leave the nasty stuff to experienced, nasty people like me."  
  
And with that, she opened the main doors to the front   
building and stared into the lobby. There were about a dozen more  
bodies lying there in various states of death or near-death.  
  
"Although there are times when I wish I didn't have to be so  
experienced." She said, before stepping in.  
  
  
  
  
To be continued. Or "bugger, is that all?" =^.^=  
  
Sievert Dinar  
sievertd@hotmail.com 


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